The Catholic Standard & Times - Msgr. Green named Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio

Msgr. Green named Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio

By Michelle Laque Johnson
CS&T Editor-in-Chief

He’s a Philadelphia native, a graduate of Father Judge High School and St. Charles Seminary, and at one time, he served as secretary to Cardinal Krol. But, over the past 20 years, as a member of the Vatican diplomatic service, he has served the universal Church in Papua, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands; South Korea; the Netherlands; Spain; Scandinavia; the Republic of China (Taiwan), and, most recently, Rome.

He’s Msgr. James Green, and on Aug. 17, the 56-year-old Vatican diplomat added three new titles to his illustrious resume. That’s when the Vatican announced that he had been named an Archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa and Namibia, and Apostolic Delegate to Botswana.

The son of James Thomas Green and Edna M. Rosenbaum, he will be ordained by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Soldano on Sept. 6 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Co-consecreating will be his mentor, Cardinal Justin Rigali.

In fact, it was Cardinal Rigali who, as head of the English-speaking section of the Secretariat of State, called Cardinal Krol, at the request of the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, and asked him to recommend a priest to train for service in the world’s oldest diplomatic service. Cardinal Krol suggested the priest who had served as his secretary for five years.

And so Cardinal Rigali invited young Father Green to enter the Academy.

Twenty years later, Msgr. Green found himself in Cardinal Rigali’s old job at the Secretariat of State. As Providence would arrange it, Msgr. Green and Cardinal Rigali were sitting in the same parlor in which Cardinal Rigali had first asked the young priest if he would consider entering the Vatican’s diplomatic service.

It seemed fitting that, in that same parlor, Msgr. Green told Cardinal Rigali the news that, decades later, he had been made an Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio.

“His very outstanding service has equipped him to fulfill [his new] role very well,” said Cardinal Rigali, who became President of the Academy, just after he asked Father Green to enroll. “He’s remembered with esteem by the priests of Philadelphia, where he was ordained 30 years ago.”

Those who miss the Rome ordination are invited to the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul on Sept. 29, when Archbishop Green will return to Philadelphia to celebrate Mass.
In the past 20 years, Archbishop Green, has served in many capacities at the various nunciatures or, in secular terms, consulates — and he has some fascinating and touching stories to tell. But before telling those stories, he explained what the top job at a nunciature is all about.

“My job is, first, to represent the Holy Father to the Church in the country — trying to maintain the ties of unity between the Holy See and the local Church,” Archbishop Green said. “There is lots of work with the bishops of the country.”

In fact, when the Vatican wants to communicate with the bishops in a certain country, it does so through the Apostolic Nuncio — and it is the Apostolic Nuncio who makes recommendations to Rome about the appointment of bishops.

“We are a support to the bishops of the country — we assist them,” Archbishop Green said.

The Apostolic Nuncio’s other job is to represent the Holy See to the local government with which the Vatican has relations — just as that government has a diplomat assigned to the Holy See.

If the government does not have relations with the Holy See, the diplomat is referred to as an Apostolic Delegate, which is what Archbishop Green will be in Botswana.

“With the government, you hope that the Holy See’s voice will be heard clearly on issues such as peace, justice, morality, and the right to life.”

While he has met and worked with many of the world’s top figures from Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to Presidents Bush and Reagan, Archbishop Green’s ties to Philadelphia are strong. As the Master of Ceremonies when the Pope John Paul II came to Philadelphia, he had the help of some very able seminarians — including Auxiliary Bishop Joseph McFadden and Bishop Michael Burbidge, now the Bishop of Raleigh. In fact, when he left Philadelphia for Rome in 1982, Bishop Burbidge’s parents had a farewell party for him at their Newtown Square home.

His Philadelphia ties have served the new Archbishop well. He said that diplomats from different countries will sometimes comment on the fact that a Vatican nunciature may employ seven or fewer people, which includes three or four secretaries, while their consulates boast more than 60 people. Archbishop Green just smiles and asks: “But what else do you have [in this country]?” Nothing, they will say.

And that makes all the difference. Because the Roman Catholic Church almost always has a huge number of bishops, priests, and sisters in a country, many of whom have been there for years.

“If I’m doing my job correctly, I don’t need a large staff,” Archbishop Green said. When Archbishop Green was sent to South Korea, he drew on resources that had been in place for years.

“The Maryknoll fathers have been in Korea for decades,” he said. “Father Gerry Hammond, who graduated from Merion Mercy Academy, is the regional superior there. He’s from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. I called Father Hammond and asked him to explain the situation [in that country]. It was one Philadelphian talking to another Philadelphian who’s been there 35 years. Who else has that?”

Archbishop Green said he was taught early on that when he went to a foreign country he should always remember that he was a guest.

“You never want to compare,” he said. “If you’re open and respectful and make a big push to learn the language, you begin to enjoy every assignment and they see that you are serious about living in their country — that’s especially important for a representative of the Holy Father.”

That also explains why, in addition to his native tongue, Archbishop Green speaks Italian, Spanish, German, Latin and French, which he studied at St. Joseph’s University and the Institute Catholique de Paris. He has also studied Korean, Chinese and Danish.

As one might expect from a diplomat who has been around the world — and who has who has both a license and a doctoral degree in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a master’s in philosophy from Villanova — Archbishop Green has a philosophical bent. In fact, the Archbishop has his own take on the so-called vocations crisis.

Having been to Korea (“I’ve never seen so many young vocations in all of my life”) and the Netherlands (“There are almost no vocations and the Church is not young at all”), he always requests that people who ask him about the vocations crisis tell him the country to which they are referring.

“In Third World countries, there is no vocation shortage,” he said. “In Western Europe or even North America, you have a different answer to that question.”

Why the disparity? While there is no one answer, he says: “If you’ve never heard the word ‘no’ in your life, why would someone expect you to consider leading a life that would necessarily involve sacrifice, that would necessarily involve the word ‘no.’ When everything is not at your disposal, people are more appreciative of God’s graces. They appreciate things we take for granted, like a glass of water.”

He says that was part of the greatness of Pope John Paul II, who was able to make youth see that “there was a better way of living, another way, and that is the way to happiness.”

In fact, Archbishop Green was himself influenced by the late pope when he came to Philadelphia. As Secretary to Cardinal Krol and Master of Ceremonies, Archbishop Green was part of the whole event.

“I was 27 or 28,” he said. “We had the opening Mass at Logan Circle. After Mass, we went back to the Cardinal’s residence and had dinner. Everyone was exhausted, but we still had the Seminary visit — a great visit. By the time we got back, it was late. We were already tired — but now, we were more tired.

“I started to close up the house, but I could feel a presence behind me. It was the Holy Father. He said to me, ‘Where is the chapel?’ I took him there. I expected a two- or three-minute visit. He was there one hour.

“I knelt there with the Holy Father. It was a significant moment in my life — to see the Pope at the end of this exhausting day spending time before the Blessed Sacrament. But of course, that is where he got his power.”

Archbishop Green has been equally impressed with Pope Benedict, who, he said, is especially gracious about thanking people for the work they do. Even on the day of his inaugural Mass, when Archbishop Green said it would have been understandable if Pope Benedict had been thinking more about what was happening to him than the people around him, the new Pope made it a point to thank him for the translation services he had provided in the week preceeding the conclave.

“After so many years of being all over the world, I could have been watching [the Papal transition] on TV,” Archbishop Green said. “It was a grace to have been in Rome at that very moment — the death, the conclave, the election, and working the past year-and-a-half with the new Holy Father. Now, I’m getting ready to go back out.”

The life he leads isn’t an easy one.

Archbishop Green jokes: “I was only homesick for about 10 years.” But he adds, more seriously, “At a certain point, you get used to it. It doesn’t mean you stop being a Philadelphian or an American, but you get used to the work. On the other side, you meet so many people you never would have met.”

Those people include President Bush and Condolezza Rice, whom Archbishop Green escorted during Pope John Paul II’s funeral, and President Reagan, whom he met when he came to Philadelphia and whose funeral he attended.

The job also takes one to the farthest outposts of the world.

When he visited a diocese in southern Papua, New Guinea, the young priest was greeted by cannibals who welcomed him by putting pig grease on his face. “It took days to get rid of the smell,” he said. “It wasn’t scary — it was just one of those strange moments.”

How long will Archbishop Green’s assignment in South Africa last? There is no fixed term. It could last anywhere from five to 10 years.

He’s looking forward to the challenge.

“You don’t want people [spending all their time] in the Vatican,” he said. “[The Vatican’s diplomatic service] is the way we maintain contact and unity. We help keep the Church Catholic.”

And that is why his life, hardships and all, makes a difference.